The Silent Room

..THUNDERCATS, HO!!~~

And from the Eye of Thundera a huge signal streams out to the skies followed by a majestic roar that thunders in the air. Yes, yes, that’s how it goes at least once in each and every damn one of the 130 episodes of the TV show that greatly influenced me back in the 90′s, The Thundercats. I recently received a nice collection of those in AVI format, and am currently waiting in anticipation for the DVD9 releases [copies of the first of four DVD sets are already sold online].

Felines
In short, The Thundercats invlove a group of humanoids from the planet Thundera [henceforth known as Thunderians] who possess cat-like features which vary from clan to clan, each clan possessing a trait unique to a certain type of cats, like lions, cheetahs, and tigers to name a few. A select few of these Thunderians are regarded as nobles, and are given the honor of being Thundercats.

The main characters behind the show are survivors of the planet Thundera [which was destroyed] who now live on the planet Third Earth. Oh how I loved watching the show back then. They were greatly influential to me in many ways, especially the English I now command [yes, proper TV does help to improve your English]. Back then, only live-action shows had Malay subtitles, and we kids are left to fend for ourselves figuring out just what the hell our favourite cartoon characters were saying.

The Good, The Bad
A great portion of The Thundercats revolve around their young lord Lion-O and his adventures. Being the protagonist, he and the other Thundercats live by the Code of Thundera – Truth, Justice, Honor, and Loyalty. Probably the best thing about the show is that in every episode there is a moral lesson to be learnt, and what better way to teach kids between right and wrong than having someone do wrong, and having someone else do right.

And who better to do wrong, than a wicked antagonist. Believe me, back in the 90′s there has not been any other arch-vilain as evil as the mighty Mumm-Ra. Mumm-Ra is a priest, cursed with immortality and a loyal servant to the Ancient Spirits of Evil. In return for a continuing to live in undeath as a rotting mummy, he is granted with an unlimited source of evil magics and the power to defeat whoever that crosses his path. In his mummy form, he is but a frail old wizard, but with an evil prayer, the Ancient Spirits tranforms his rotting flesh into that of a powerful warrior capable of massive destruction.

Under Mumm-Ra’s command are the dumbass Mutants from the planet Plundarr, who also landed on Third Earth afer chasing the Thundercats when they fled Thundera. The Mutants are probably the worst example of teamwork ever to exist on television. These idiots are actually not even worth a mention when fighting the Thundercats on even ground.

The Brand
Throughout both seasons of the show [yes, there were two seasons of The Thundercats] each episode carried a mvaluable moral lesson, and very little effort was given in forms of plot and character development. This is easily seen in plenty of flaws throughout the show, for example:

- Lion-O could actually walk from Cat’s Lair to the Black Pyramid in case he wants to pay Mumm-Ra a visit.
- The only character that seemed to age as the story progesses would be Snarf, because he gets forgetful and clumsy at times
- In the first episode, it showed Jaga as Lord of the Thundercats, yet much later you get to see him AND Claudus [Lion-O's dad] each with one hand on the Sword of Omens to call forth its power.
- The Thundercats could hold their breath for unbelieveable lengths of time underwater.
- In his Ever Living form, Mumm-Ra could fly, float and hover at his will, but during a tremor, he had to hang on to the walls of his pyramid to avoid falling down.

Of course, these kind of shits matter little to kids under 10 years old back in the 90′s. The main drive behind The Thundercats was to provide their young audience with good and beneficial entertainment during their growing years. By feeding them with good values, and sometimes useful scientific facts [like staying away from trees during a storm], it was a show approved by parents and loved by the kids.

The Greatest Plot Device in Television History

Here’s my favourite part;The Sword of Omens and The Eye of Thundera embedded on its hilt. This is probably the greatest ever weapon the human mind could have created. Why? Because the only thing the sword cannot do, is make good coffee. Yes, that legendary blade can do ANYTHING. And because of that, I hereby declare it as the Greatest Plot Device in Television History. The part when it transforms from a dagger into a long sword, fly to your hands when you call it, and beaming out the signal is forgiveable [it IS it's original purpose, anyway]. But oh no no no, there’s more.

Let me give a few examples when I mean, ANYTHING;
- the Cat Signal can be seen from wherever you are on Third Earth
- scrap that, it can be seen even if Lion-O is on New Thundera [yes, during the 2nd season] and you’re on Third Earth.
- The Cat Signal can eclipse the sun.

- The Sword can control the forces of nature, e.g. summon rain, or grab a tornado so you can transport it wherever you want.
- The blade can be spun around the create an impenetrable shield

- the Cat Signal can press a button!! [in that episode, Lion-O and Wilykat were trapped inside a space train that was crashing to the ground, and summoned the Signal to press the 'Stop' button inside the locked control room]

Seasons Pass
I mentioned how the showed lacked effort in terms of plot development. This is mainly because each episode is written by a different person. However, there is a slight change in this pattern when The Thundercats‘ success allowed it to progress into a second season worth of another 65 episodes. During this season, we get to see some very interesting plots when the episodes build up into story arcs.

[A story arc is a mini-story within a show, and it lends development and interesting elements to build on for future episodes, take for example Harry Potter books. If the entire series of books were intergrated (you wish) into a TV series, each book will act as a separate story arc. The same idea applies here.]

During the first season there was only one story arc that truly brought out some plot progress, and that would be Lion-Os Anointment trials. 5 episodes where Lion-O competes with each of his fellow Thundercats in their respective field of expertise to prove his worth as Lord of the Thundercats.

The second season was amazing. It kicked start with its own story arc. 5 episodes of how the Thundercats rescued 3 Thunderians who have also landed on Third Earth, but were kidnapped by Mumm-Ra. This brought about a few new flying vehicles for the Thundercats, revisited some of the villains they fought in the past.

At the end of the fifth episode, Mumm-Ra was thought to have been destroyed, but he actually survived, and the story built up into another 5-part adventure, introducing a new group of evil-doers and where the 3 Thunderians join in as new Thundercats to fight this evil. There are more arcs as the Thundercats explored out of Third Earth to visit their home planet Thundera, but that’s another story.

Treasured Moments
The few things I loved about the Thundercats are that of when you see a clear definition of good and evil. How much good detest all evil, and how the evil loathe all that is good.

Even if he is an antagonist, Mumm-Ra is actually my favourite character in the show. He’s probably the arch-villain I could always love even if he seems weird at times. The way he laughs, his poetic evilness and his sense of humour is strangely amazing. It’s a unique quality I doubt you could ever find in any other villain during his time. Here’s one of my favourite moments, during the episode Day of The Eclipse, he casts a curse on the Thundercats;

“Ancient Spirits of Evil,
Grant me your special powers
on this Day of the Eclipse,
Turn your magical might
against Cat’s Lair!!

[magic couldron burns up high in flames]

For stone to crumble,
and steel to corrode,
systems to fail,
and friends to quarrel;

Make today the Thundercats’ last day
on Third Earth,
Make today, the Day of Decay!!”

I loved the moments when he would transform, and tediously plot an evil scheme to defeat the Thundercats and fail every single damn time [I pity his poor planning, really]. But, he never dies, and never gives up trying. And he loves his pet dog, Ma-Mutt [who made his debut at the beginning of season two]. He swindles and tells white lies even to the Ancient Spirits that he worships, but he loves his pet dog so much, Ma-Mutt is the only thing in the whole universe he would ever trust.

A Story To Tell
I loved The Thundercats when I was small, and was practically obsessed with them. Today, I still adore them as a nostalgic item, a memory of the past, one that I will always love till my last breath. The show has bestowed upon me my good vocabulary, my common moral sense, and my batshit-insane-imagination. I definitely WILL buy the original DVD once the entire 4 sets are on sale, and perhaps, will let my own children learn from it, and love it the way I did. For this, I shall say Thundercats, HO!!~~~